What is Digital Citizenship?

The ALA Presidential Committee on Information Literacy: Final Report states: “Information literate people know how to find, evaluate, and use information effectively to solve a particular problem or make a decision. . .” Information literacy skills allow individuals to use the power of the Internet to help answer their informational needs; the lack of such skills leaves library users without the ability to navigate the vast resources of the Internet in efficient and effective ways. Although we live in the “information age” and children seem “connected” from birth, research has shown that people need education in developing skills that will help them use the Internet effectively. Libraries can serve as primary training providers to help meet this need.”

According to Leslie Preddy, AASL President 2015-2016,

“In layman’s terms, Digital Citizenship is the norms of responsible
and appropriate interaction with technology. It requires
a critical understanding that our responsibilities are
no longer just the immediate, face-to-face community
in which we live, but also include our ever-expanding
digital communities. It also encompasses the world as we
access global communities online. Digital citizenship
requires that we update the more-traditional critical
skills with an eye toward the digital as new tech tools
are added at an alarming rate. These skills include
plagiarism, copyright, and the increasingly complex
source evaluation in ever-expanding formats, as well
as the tools necessary to ethically and morally navigate
cyberbullying, digital etiquette, security, safety, hacking,
social networks, open source, knowledge sharing/
communication, e-commerce, and technology balance
(in daily life). This is not an all-inclusive list, as
technology continues to evolve, and digital citizenship
themes will need to be adapted as new technology uses
bring up issues unknown to us today.”

Over the next several weeks we’ll explore your thoughts on Digital Citizenship. I’ll ask questions and please post your comments. Students, teachers, administrators, and parents are welcome to comment. We will learn together and hopefully make us all safer online. Thanks! Mrs. Brown, Teacher Librarian

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